CHEAP, EASY HIGHS: OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDS AND TEENS CAN BE A LETHAL COMBO

They're legal, inexpensive and accessible. And while over-the-counter
meds are believed to be safe, when used in large quantities, they can
kill. This information has not escaped teens looking for powerful
highs, who are overdosing on nonprescription drugs and becoming
emergency room statistics.

Coricidin, the cold medication that goes by the street name Triple C
and DXM, is all too familiar to Fairfield High School drug counselor
Kevin Curry. "It's the main over-the-counter drug I see right now,"
says Curry, who also runs a private practice in Waterbury. Teens, he
explains, buy this drug as well as the cough syrup Robitussin for the
DXM content.

DXM is another name for the cough suppressant Dextromethorphan, an
active ingredient in many nonprescription cold and cough medications.
According to Medlineplus.com, the health information Web site of the
United States National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., symptoms
of overdosing on DXM include blurred vision, confusion, difficulty
urinating, drowsiness or dizziness, nausea or severe vomiting,
shakiness and unsteady walk, slowed breathing, unusual excitement,
nervousness, restlessness or severe irritability. "Virtually all the
kids who are abusing other substances have also tried or are
considering trying over-the-counter prescriptions," says Curry. "I've
heard of kids using 15 Coricidins at a shot and drinking from one to
four bottles of Robitussin in one sitting. Parents have called me
saying they have found Coricidin bottles all over their kid's room."
Says John Hamilton, senior vice president of clinical services at the
substance-abuse health-care agency LMG Programs -- Stamford Youth
Options: "Kids are taking toxic levels of these normally (benign)
medications, which are giving them an effect not intended. Instead of
healing a cold, they are getting pretty wasted. (These drugs) are
dangerous when mixed with alcohol ... (which) can create something
more lethal."

There's also "a surge in prescription medicine abuse among teens,"
Curry adds, naming pain killers Percocet and OxyContin and
anxiety-relievers Xanax and Valium among the drugs teens covet.

"It's not as uncommon as one would think," he says. "If that supply
is exhausted, the next natural progression would be to heroin, which
is available on the street."

LMG Youth Options Director Paula Aspeci says prescription meds
deliver "more bang for the buck" than over-the-counter drugs. Still,
she adds, there's less chance of being caught buying nonprescription
remedies at the drugstore than taking drugs out of a parent's
medicine cabinet.

"I'm sure you can get high on Aleve, too," she says, "but it's not
the same as taking prescription narcotics."

Enter the Internet

As to prescription drug sources, just search the Internet, says
Hamilton. While talking, he pulls up a Web site on his computer
screen. "I found it in 30 seconds," he says, explaining that he heard
about the Internet connection from teens in drug treatment programs.
The drugs, he says, come from Mexico or another foreign country and
are delivered directly to one's home.

A check of the Web site reveals a Frequently Asked Questions link
advising readers that while "addictive type drugs" require a
prescription, the prescription is easy to get. "You simply contact
one of our 'consultation required' sources and set up a phone
consultation," it says. "This way it abides by the law and you get
your medicine legally and the doctor prescribing it does not break
the law. If you have a legitimate reason for it, 9 times out of 10,
you will get it." (Although we know the Web address, we decided not
to print it.)

"It seems ironic that kids are abusing Coricidin, since they can
obtain Xanax, Percocet and Ritalin (stimulant drug that controls
behavior) ... from the Internet or from their parents' medicine
cabinet," says Hamilton.

If someone wants to chase a high by taking mood-altering drugs, says
Curry, they're going to do it regardless of what form that substance
takes. And while one might guess otherwise, he adds, such addictions
are more common in the 'burbs than the inner cities. "Part of it has
to do with the financial ability of people being able to afford to
use."

"Coricidin (abuse) is something that's been going on for years and
years and years," says Cary Ostrow, director of outpatient services
at LMG Programs. Here, too, the Internet is a font of information. If
you type in the names of over-the-counter drugs in your Web search
browser, notes Ostrow, you'll find multiple sites dedicated to "how
many pills to take, how to mix different medications together and how
to melt them down."

The Web sites are like cookbooks, says Hamilton. "Kids are finding
innovative strategies," he notes, explaining that some of these Web
sites demonstrate how to remove from a drug a certain ingredient that
in excess can be harmful to the liver. What remains is a drug useable
in abusive levels.

"Kids try everything to see if it works," says Ostrow. "Sniffing
paint and glue. Huffing is popular with younger kids who breathe in
the chemicals from aerosol spray paint cans. Kids will spray paint
into a soda can and breathe it in right away so the fumes can't
escape. As you can tell from the huge warnings on these bottles,
there are a lot of side effects including brain injury ... you can
pass out and die right there.

The Parent Connection

When parents learn their teenager is under the influence of drugs,
"it tends to freak them out quite a bit," says Curry. "I don't know
if it's as much denial as it is a lack of understanding and education
... no one wants to admit 'there's a problem in my school.' There is
a problem in every school."

The drug problem will not go away even through government
intervention, says Hamilton, noting that kids can bypass restrictions
by devising their own creative methods of substance abuse. In some
ways, he says, household products and inhalants are "some of the more
lethal experimentation that goes on. These products are so toxic,
(kids) can die from any level of inhalation."

When a child is involved in drugs, Curry does look to the parents:
"Parents not knowing what to supervise, not setting clear boundaries
or limits. Wanting to be more of a friend than a parent. And a lot of
it is parents being kids of the '60s, and knowing about mood-altering
substances."

How should parents deal?

Studies have shown that when parents talk to their children about the
harmful effects of drugs, their (kids' drug) usage tends to decrease,
says substance abuse counselor Todd Kellogg of Greenwich Youth
Options (tied to parent organization LMG Programs).

Parents, he says, should also know what their children are logging on
to when they're 'Net surfing. "It's not like the kids can be getting
on these things without the parents knowing," he says. "Parents must
be educated to become more computer savvy."

Even though teenagers go through various changes as they mature, such
as spurning parental involvement and becoming more independent,
Kellogg says no matter what signs their child does or does not
exhibit, it's likely they will come in contact with drugs. "And
statistically," he adds, "they are likely to experiment."

Kellogg says many parents consider grades to be an indicator. "It's
not the best indicator," he says. "Just because a child is
maintaining good grades does not mean that he or she is not using
drugs." Parents are frequently surprised to learn their child is on
drugs, and more often than not, it occurs only after the child or a
friend is caught by the school or police.

a Corporate Response

Show kids the harmful consequences of using drugs, and you may
prevent them from getting involved, says Hamilton. It's a premise
that pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma of Stamford, manufacturer
of the painkiller OxyContin, has put into action.

Among its efforts, the company has launched the "Painfully Obvious"
message campaign and Web site (painfullyobvious.com) to educate
parents and children about the dangerous effects of abusing
prescription drugs. Included are links for kids, spelled out in their
language:

"Obvious: No one wants to be around someone who's shaking, stinking
and puking. The physical effects of abusing prescription drugs
include severe shaking, diarrhea and throwing up. Really obvious:
When someone is passed out they're very boring. Other effects include
dizziness, heavy sweating and loss of consciousness. Ridiculously
Obvious: Dead people are no fun. The worst effects of abusing
prescription drugs are addiction and death."

The site also includes links for parents, resources and free
materials such as posters and brochures.

While the campaign is being piloted in four cities -- Cincinnati;
West Palm Beach, Fla.; Philadelphia; and Charleston/Huntington, W.
Va. -- the Web site materials are accessible to everyone.

"This is the first program to specifically address prescription drug
abuse, and we want to make sure that it can be a part of the overall
prevention effort," says Jim Heins, the company's associate director
of public affairs.

The program, he says, has tools in it for both the prevention expert
and the educator to use. In the pilot cities, the company will be
conducting research and surveys as follow-up to people using the
program. "At this point, we will be measuring awareness," he says,
noting that once the pilot is completed (no date set), it will be
available nationally.

Hamilton calls the campaign "an honest portrayal of facts," delivered
in a way kids understand.

"One has to be careful not to send out inaccurate data," he says,
referring to the twisted depiction of potheads in the campy 1936
flick "Reefer Madness." If you create these dramatic side effects not
real to their experience, kids may dismiss all information about
drugs," he adds. "If they don't believe what you're saying about one
of them, they won't believe what you're saying about (any of them)."